Leadership

Jay Want, MD – President and Chief Executive Officer

Jay Want, MD is President and Chief Executive Officer of Physician Health Partners, LLC, a management services organization serving over 50,000 covered lives in Colorado. He is a member of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce Health Care Committee, an affiliate of the Colorado Business Group on Health, and has served on task forces for the Colorado Division of Insurance, the Colorado Trust, and the Colorado Hospital Association. He has served on various hospital and health plan quality, pharmacy and therapeutics, and medical policy committees.

Dr. Want is board-certified in internal medicine, and was a primary care internist in private practice for ten years. He began doing medical director work in 1997, and joined PHP in 1999. His professional interests include servant leadership, re-engineering medical practice, and high acuity care systems.

He received his internal medicine training at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his medical degree from Northwestern University. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. He grew up outside of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and graduated from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Dr. Want resides in Denver, Colorado with his wife who is also a physician and his three daughters.

Deb Munley - Vice President of Quality

Ms. Munley has 20 years of experience in quality improvement, case management and utilization management. Much of that experience was broad operational management including medical management, pharmacy benefit management, provider relations, customer service, claims and credentialing. Ms. Munley demonstrates a strong record of achieving cost containment and patient satisfaction results through the development of innovative care management programs.

Ms. Munley has been with PHP since its inception. As the Director of Operations, Ms. Munley developed PHP’s Community Case Management and Disease Management programs, the Pharmacy Benefit program, Physician Hospitalist program, and as Director of Quality, the Planned Care Model. She is driven by the philosophy that patients will benefit by providing a more sensible, healthcare delivery system for the providers.

Ms. Munley attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison where she received her B.S. in Nursing. She is an active Registered Nurse in Colorado and has instructed Cardiac wellness classes. Formerly, a nurse at St. Joseph’s hospital, she has seen first hand the way in which Managed Care, when driven by quality initiatives can help improve healthcare delivery. Ms. Munley received her Lean Healthcare Certification from the University Of Michigan College Of Engineering, Center for Professional Development in 2005.

Ms. Munley lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband, daughter and son. She is a volunteer at the Community Table in Boulder to help feed the homeless. Ms. Munley also volunteers her time helping students develop their writing skills. She is an avid skier and pianist.

Kenneth Nielsen – Vice President, Finance and Informatics

Mr. Nielsen has 15 years of financial experience in a leadership role in the healthcare industry. He started his career at Colorado Healthcare Purchasing Alliance (The Alliance) as the Controller, working with many of Colorado’s largest self-funded employers who purchased and administered healthcare benefits for their employees and families. In 1997 Ken joined Colorado Access, which provided healthcare to 100,000+ Medicaid patients. During his 7 years with Colorado Access, Ken served in multiple financial and operational roles and ultimately as the Director of Financial Planning / Decision Support.

Mr. Nielsen joined PHP in 2004 and is currently the Vice President of Finance and Informatics supervising all aspects of financial management, reporting, Information Technology and Business Development. Within this role, and to the credit of those that work with him, PHP has been successful in establishing new business segments and consistent growth while continuing to enhance the company’s financial stability.

Mr. Nielsen is a native Coloradoan with a B.S. in Accounting. He currently resides in Littleton, Colorado with his wife and their two daughters. The Nielsen family actively participates in their local church. In his spare time, Ken enjoys most any sport, golfing, cooking, and spending time with his family.

Mary Venturella - Vice President of Client Services

Ms. Venturella has 24 years of leadership experience in the healthcare industry. She started her career at Boulder Medical Center where she developed systems to increase the efficiency and quality in their healthcare delivery system. In 1991 Ms. Venturella joined Medwest as the Director of Operations where she developed a network to consolidate four Independent Physician Associations under the auspices of Exempla Health Care.

Ms. Venturella joined PHP in 1999. She has developed an effective business plan for Physician Hospitals in a in a global capitated environment designed to improve the efficiency, and quality of healthcare. In her role at PHP, she has implemented the sound business structure, and cohesive network that allows our primary care providers to provide top quality patient care while sustaining market viability. By demonstrating a deep understanding of the intricate networks, she has positioned PHP as a strong leader in the health care industry. As part of the top echelon of executives at PHP, Ms. Venturella is well respected by providers, health plan executives, and her colleagues.

A native of Pennsylvania, Ms. Venturella came to Colorado to attend the University of Colorado where she received B.A. in Business Administration. She currently resides in Boulder, Colorado with her husband, their son, and their daughter. Mary and her family volunteer at area shelters preparing food for the homeless. In her spare time, Mary enjoys jigsaw puzzles, reading, and traveling internationally with her family.

Joelle Kernitzki – Controller

Ms. Kernitzki has been working in healthcare related finance for more than 15 years. Her fiscal management experience in healthcare comes from many years in a hospital setting with Centura Home Care, and the St. Anthony’s Hospital systems. Ms. Kernitzki has a deep understanding of the data received from a variety of sources.

As the Controller at PHP, in partnership with our physician owners, she has developed systems to deliver detailed, accurate data that is pertinent to our providers at a practice level. As the industry moves towards a system with an Electronic Medical Record, Ms. Kernitzki has developed reporting structures to interpret the data provided in those records. The development of those systems is giving providers the information they need to improve the quality and delivery of care.

A native of Kansas City, Ms. Kernitzki completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Finance at Baker University. After many years at Centura Home Care, Joelle joined Physician Health Partners in 1998 bringing wealth of experience in health care related finance. Driven by a love of learning, Joelle completed her Masters Degree in Accounting at University of Colorado at Denver